Antiheroes, heroes, and Superman

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I've never been a huge fan of antiheroes in literature. My favorite example of an antihero is Scarlett O'Hara. She's awful. Her inner voice makes all the good things she does selfish and duty-bound to the image of goodness. House, M.D. is another story with an antihero. Since he's modeled after Sherlock Holmes, we could include him in this category. It's all about the game, not necessarily the lives in jeopardy.

We all tend to love the reluctant hero, but the antihero is different. He isn't just reluctant at first, before he finally responds to the call of duty and honor. He's resentful of the duty all the way through. He has his own reasons for doing what he does, and they have nothing to do with the traditional heroic mind.

Captain America is a hero. He sacrifices willingly for a cause he perceives to be greater than himself. A reluctant hero who stays resentful of the people he must help and the cause he must serve becomes an antihero.

It's tricky to write an antihero successfully and keep people engaged. It can grate on the nerves, especially if there's no perceptible arc or growth in the character.

On the opposite side is the flawless hero. That's Superman. His only weakness is a rock from his home planet, not any kind of relatable human frailty. Just as important as being good and dependable is the necessary human foible or two that make a person relatable. Han Solo is not an antihero because he truly does care about causes and friends, though he prides himself on being tough and detached.

So go ahead and knock your heroes off their pedestals! Just don't knock them too hard. :)

Who is your favorite hero? Favorite antihero?

Who Tells the Story?

On Wednesday, I took my daughters to see Maleficent. We're going to see Wicked on Broadway today with Girl Scouts, which makes this Misunderstood Women Week.

Yesterday my older daughter mentioned Morgan La Fey, who she knows mostly from the Magic Tree

Deadwood releases on Tuesday, June 24, 2014!
Order your copy from your favorite indie
bookstore or online retailer !

House and Sisters Grimm series. I said the character she was really from King Arthur and that in that story, she wasn't a good guy. Her eyes widened and she said, "Morgan La Fey is a bad guy?"


And of course my answer was, "It depends who is telling the story."

 

Sympathy for the Devil

Jane Eyre was one of my favorite books as teen, and then in a college course on postcolonial novels came another favorite, Wide Sargasso Sea.  Jean Rhys's retelling of Jane Eyre from the point of view of Antoinette Cosway -- Rochester's wife --  showed me that the mad woman in the attic may not be at all, but simply not able to tell her own story.

Retellings of classic tales from other points of view is a favorite form of YA and MG, and the viewpoint of the villain makes a story immediately fresh. There's a reason little girls (and big ones) related better to conflicted Elsa in Frozen than open-hearted Anna. We all feel misunderstood at times, told to hide what makes us special, cast as the villain in narratives told about us.

Its frequently said that everyone is the hero in their own story. Every villain has motivations that could make them just as interesting as a main character -- or more interesting.

Room for Both Sides of the Story

When I read Wide Sargasso Sea, it was both a revelation and an immediate, but it didn't replace Jane Eyre for me. I could love them both -- both novels, both Jane and Antoinette.

Similarly, there's room for both sides of the story, even in a novel with a single point of view.

• Before you write, ask yourself, whose story is this?
• How would it change from another point of view?
• How would your antagonist tell it?

What's your favorite retelling from an antagonist point of view? Do you consider and write your own stories with the antagonist viewpoint in mind?

About Kell Andrews:  Kell Andrews writes picture books and middle grade novels. Deadwood, her middle-grade contemporary fantasy about a cursed tree, comes out from Spencer Hill Press, June 24, 2014.